and so, we grow together
by kahlen369
Summary: (HP AU) When Regina Mills is Sorted into Hufflepuff, she becomes an anomaly, an embarrassment to her pureblood Slytherin family, and to her mother most of all. Emma Swan is just another, unremarkable muggleborn Hufflepuff, who is a no-name orphan with not a Knut to her name, to boot. Then, the two run into each other and become friends. Suddenly, life is looking up.
1. First Encounter

Emma Swan was a witch. Somehow, even after months of knowing it, even after three days of living in a gigantic magical castle taking actual magical classes, she still didn't quite believe it. Part of her was convinced she was just having a really long and weird dream, that she would wake up any moment and find herself in the crowded cramped room she shared with a dozen other kids in the group home. It was all just too good to be true, and Emma had given up good things, on fairy tales like this, a long time ago.

But still, she went to the classes, still spent hours flicking and swishing her wand trying to get magic out of it, because even if this was all just some dream, she wanted to enjoy it while it lasted.

That included exploring as much of the strange, giant castle as she could. According to rumor, it was full of secrets and hiding places that were yet to be discovered. The thought immediately captured her attention, and she was determined to find a little hidey hole of her own within the castle that no one else knew of. A place she could call her own.

So, taking advantage of the break they had after breakfast, Emma had picked a direction at random and started to walk. Her process of "exploring" the castle, involved getting lost mostly, but she didn't mind too much. Sooner or later, she'd end up somewhere she knew. The castle might've been big, but it wasn't exactly the inner city streets of downtown London.

Just as she'd turned into yet another unfamiliar corridor, she heard the sound of someone crying. Having grown up an orphan in Muggle foster care, that was a sound she was well used to hearing. It seemed out of place here though, in this magnificent castle of magic that was like something straight out of a storybook.

Curiosity spurred Emma on, and she followed the noise to its source, right up to a small, half-hidden nook by the corner where she could see a small figure peeking out. A fellow first year, then. Pausing in her steps, she wondered what to do next.

Steeling her nerves, the newly minted Hufflepuff approached, softly calling out, "Are you okay?"

As soon as she spoke, a dark-haired head whipped up to look at her, revealing that the mystery crier was, in fact, her dormmate, Regina Mills, who'd been quite the topic of conversation in the castle gossip. The Mills were one of the oldest and richest magical families in the country, and she was the first in centuries not to be Sorted into Slytherin, and the very first Hufflepuff ever. To add to the disbelief, her mother was the infamous "Queen of Hearts", who had long managed to evade charges for her use of the Imperius curse in particular. There were all sorts of crazy stories whirling around, like how her mother was using her daughter as a spy in Hogwarts, making her a Hufflepuff so that she'd avoid suspicion. No one knew quite how to treat her, beyond like some kind of zoo animal they occasionally stared or pointed at.

Then, of course, there had been the Howler at breakfast earlier today, where Cora Mills' magically enhanced voice had quite icily declared Regina to be a disgrace to the family name and as her daughter. Emma, being a muggleborn, had been completely shocked by the sudden booming voice coming from an envelope, and had the misfortune of being only a few seats away from Regina at the Hufflepuff table. She could all too easily recall the expression on the dark-haired girl's face, and the chills she felt from hearing that scary voice. No wonder people were terrified of her mother. After, Regina had stood out without a word and rushed out of the Great Hall.

That had been maybe a half hour ago. Maybe she should've expected to run into her at some point during her exploration of the castle, but the thought had not even crossed her mind. The startled expression on Regina's face must have matched her own, but the other girl recovered much faster.

"What are you doing here?" There was clear distrust and suspicion, but also, fear, badly hidden. Clearly, Regina did not appreciate being stumbled upon during her moment of vulnerability. It was pointless, since she'd already seen them anyway, but she still quickly rubbed at her eyes and cheeks, tried to make it look like she hadn't just been caught crying.

Emma shifted on her feet awkwardly, just as uncomfortable with the whole situation as the other girl clearly was. At the question, she could only shrug. "Heard a noise. Followed it."

Why had she even followed the sound of crying, anyway? What had she expected to find? Emma cursed her inability to think before she acted yet again. Now, she was stuck here, trying to comfort a girl who didn't seem to want any comforting.

"A noise?" Regina frowned briefly in confusion, before her face flushed as she realized she'd been louder than she'd thought. Fists clenching, she demanded roughly, "Are you going to go tell your friends what a big crybaby I am now?"

Despite the growing anger on the other girl's face, Emma couldn't stop herself from snorting sarcastically. "What friends?" She had never been good with other people, probably thanks to her abandonment issues or whatever, as the shrink would say.

The look of confusion, still tinged with suspicion, on the other girl's face made her huff. Looking away, she promised quietly. "I won't tell anyone, okay? Not like I've got anyone to tell anyway."

Though the tension had started to leave her shoulders, Regina still asked cautiously, "Not even our dormmates?"

Emma rolled her eyes. Though she could understand where it was coming from, the interrogation was starting to get on her nerves. "No, not even them. Geez, it's just a little crying. I doubt they'd even care." Of course, even as she said it, she was pretty sure it was a lie.

In her brand new home amongst the badgers, she didn't fit in too much better. The upper years, especially the prefects, treated her well enough, but kids could be cruel, and had about as much tact as sandpaper. On the very first night, her new dormmates had bombarded her with all sorts of questions, with the pureblooded ones in particular treating her suspicion. Regina had hesitantly answered a few questions before it had gotten to be too much and she'd snapped at them, rather viciously too. Of course, that had ended up in the rumor mill the next day, and Regina continued to get questions and looks pelted her way by her more persistent dormmates.

If they got wind of this little incident, Emma had no doubt it would probably hit the Hogwarts' gossip circles in no time. Clearly, Regina thought the same, and huffed a short, humorless laugh. Bitterly, she remarked, "I don't even know why this matters so much. Why is it such a big deal to be a Hufflepuff?"

"Don't ask me." Emma shrugged. "I didn't even know what a Hufflepuff was 'til the train ride over."

"You're a muggleborn?" Regina asked curiously. "I've never really met one before Hogwarts, you know."

Emma frowned. "Really? Aren't they-we, I guess-pretty common though? I think our dorm is half muggleborn, even." It had been a relief, honestly, to know that she was not as out of place or behind as she'd secretly feared. She was still an orphan, still in secondhand clothes and carrying tattered books, but it was still one less thing for people to judge her on.

The brunette blushed, looking a little embarrassed as she admitted, "I grew up pretty sheltered. Homeschooled, mostly, in an old, magical neighborhood."

"Oh. That's pretty cool, I guess." Emma said, not quite sure what to say, before a question occurred. "Are magical neighborhoods different from non-magical ones?" Were there streets that changed randomly, like some of the stairs in the castle? Were there living trees or broomsticks instead of cars?

Regina's brow furrowed in thought. "Um, well, I'm not really sure what a Muggle neighborhood is like? But I know there are a lot of wards and spells built into the streets and things like that." She hummed thoughtfully, before explaining, "Mostly for protection and secrecy, I think. I'm not too sure, honestly."

That sounded a lot more boring than she imagined, and she couldn't the slight disappointment at that. "Guess they're not that different after all, then." Emma noted with a shake of her head.

"Sorry," Regina replied, looking genuinely apologetic. "But maybe I'm wrong. We could probably go to the library to check?"

Instinctively, Emma's nose scrunched up in distaste. "The library?"

A giggle erupted from the dark-haired girl at the expression on her face, and she quickly tried to stifle it by covering her mouth, but it was too late. Emma thought it was a nice laugh, though a little too girly for her taste, maybe. Still, she couldn't help a grin of her own. "Hey, I like books as much as the next person, but aren't our textbooks enough?"

"But this is different." Regina replied reasonably. "Besides, we're going to go to answer your question."

"Well, maybe I don't want to know the answer anymore!" Just for good measure, she stuck her tongue out too.

An overly dramatic gasp escaped Regina's mouth, before she accused, "No fair! No take backs." Then, switching tactics, she pouted and asked pleadingly, "Come on! It'll be fun. The library's on the way back to the dorms anyway."

Though she tried to stay serious, Emma couldn't help cracking a grin at the other girl's antics. Briefly, she thought of what other people might've said if they saw the infamous Regina Mills now. But she quickly shook it off and replied, with a fake sigh, "Fine. I'll go to the library with you. But only because I really do wanna know the answer."

Then, suddenly realizing something, she blurted out, "Wait, you know how to get back?"

Regina blinked confusedly at her. "What are you talking about?"

Flushing, Emma decided not to share the fact that she'd been walking around lost for a while now, quickly shaking her head as she spoke, "Nevermind. Let's just go. Lead the way!"

Though still a little confused, the brunette shrugged it off, before starting to walk ahead. With a small sigh of relief and a smile forming, Emma followed.


	2. Morning Accidents

After that day, Emma and Regina had practically become attached to the hip. Neither of them had a best friend before (or really, any friend, if they being honest), but they seemed to settle into such a role for each other naturally. Though they had not actually known each other for long, it had seemed like they'd been best friends with each other for a lifetime already. Of course, it probably helped that they were pretty much never left each other from the moment they woke up to the moment they went to bed.

* * *

Regina was a light sleeper and an early riser, mostly thanks to being drilled into such a habit by her mother, so she always woke before most of her dormmates. She liked to take advantage of the brief alone time by leisurely getting ready for the day and shamelessly hogging the shared bathrooms to herself.

Before Emma, she'd always made sure to be down at the Great Hall before the rest of the Hufflepuff first years started waking up, to avoid any extra uncomfortable scrutiny. But now, she waited. Usually, she read a book or reviewed homework, determinedly ignoring any curious eyes on her as she waited for her best friend to finally wake up.

At first, she had tried to wake Emma up, just a little earlier than usual. The other girl was most definitely not a morning person, however, and a complete grump who did not appreciate Regina's efforts. Instead, she always set an alarm herself, giving herself the bare minimum amount of time needed to get ready so she could get more sleep. It was a practice that meant she was always the last person in the dorms, and typically had the same luxury of privacy when it came to the bathrooms, if not the same amount of leisure to enjoy it.

Emma called it _a genius plan_ , while Regina rolled her eyes, but didn't try to wake her up again, and waited for her instead, half hoping her friend would feel guilty and get up earlier by herself.

She never did, but then, Regina didn't really mind the wait as much as she pretended too. Slowly, the whispering from the other girls had faded as she became old news, and she could enjoy having a little extra time early in the morning.

Today, Regina was going over her Transfiguration essay, making sure it was all in order and wondering whether or not she ought to add a few more inches. She had already reached the required length, but wasn't quite happy with how her final few paragraphs had turned out. Too wrapped up in her dilemma, she did not notice Emma had already finished until droplets of water appeared on the parchment, dripping down from her wet hair as she leaned over the page.

" _Emma!_ " She cried out in surprise, flinging her precious homework away from the danger on instinct, and accidentally hitting the other girl in the face.

A pained moaned escaped from the blonde, as she lifted a hand to cradle the injury. Immediately worried, Regina sprang up from the chair and approached, a hand hovering anxiously in mid-air. "Are you alright?" She asked, trying to get a better look, but Emma was deliberately facing away from her. "Should we go to the Hospital Wing?"

As expected, her best friend waved the offer off. She hated going there, saying not even magic could make hospitals any better. Regina didn't quite understand the aversion, because hospitals were places of healing, weren't they? Even if she didn't like it when she was hurt or sick or weak, she knew she had to go the Hospital Wing if she wanted to get better. But Emma was always stubborn.

"Emma, let me _see_." Regina spoke sternly, not quite crossing her arms just yet, but getting ready to do it. "How bad is it?"

"It's not a big deal!" The blonde retorted, but her hand was still covering her face all too suspiciously, and her voice sounded strangely wheezy and strained.

Finally, Regina had enough and decided to skip the crossed arms and go straight into grabbing Emma's wrist and forcefully wrenching it away.

" _Hey!_ " Emma protested immediately, but it was lost in the gasp Regina made when she saw the state of her face. Namely, the fact that her nose didn't look quite right and was bleeding quite fiercely.

"You're bleeding," Regina exclaimed, worry and guilt shining in her eyes. "Oh Merlin, I'm so sorry, Emma!"

"I'm fine." The blonde continued to stress, despite the evidence showing otherwise, including the fact that she still sounded like she had a bad cold or something. "It's just a little blood, okay? Basically a nose bleed."

"That is _not_ a nose bleed, Emma Swan!" Regina snapped. " _That_ is your nose broken thanks to my first."

"It's not broken!" She continued to protest. " _Geez_ , how hard do you think you punch?"

"Hard enough to break your nose!"

"Regina." Emma shook her head. "Seriously, do you think I'd be able to argue with you like this if my nose was really broken?"

"I don't know," She admitted, shaking her own head. "But I don't know anything about broken noses, and neither do you! So we should just go to the Hospital Wing to be sure."

By now, Regina was wringing her hands and practically begging. There were even the beginnings of tears in her eyes, though she tried hard to reign them in, because she could hear Mother's voice in her head telling her crying was weak and not allowed.

Realizing how worried Regina actually was about her, Emma paused. Honestly, she was all too used to just shrugging off all sorts of injuries and pains. No matter how bad it might've actually been, her instinct was always to downplay and ignore it. Nobody ever cared enough to make her go to a doctor. Or whatever the magical equivalent was.

Feeling strangely embarrassed and warm, Emma hesitantly spoke, "F-fine. I guess we can go."

Almost immediately, Regina seemed to light up. "Really?" Quickly, and clearly not giving Emma a chance to change her mind, she grabbed the other girl's hand and practically dragged her out of the dormitory room.

Huffing a little at the treatment, Emma nonetheless let herself get dragged along, though not without pointing out, "You know, we're going to end up missing breakfast at the Great Hall."

Undeterred, Regina declared clearly, "I don't care. You're more important."

Blinking, Emma could barely believe she heard right, but her cheeks burned a little in response regardless. There was a warm feeling in her heart, something soft and sweet and a little strange.

There wasn't much Emma could say in response, but she squeezed the hand in hers, as they walked.


	3. Astronomy Class

Like most students, Emma hated Mondays, but she had a special hatred for Thursdays too. Specifically, Thursday nights. Even more specifically, their stupid Astronomy classes which were held at midnight every Thursday, for some ridiculous reason or another. Why were they required to take this stupid subject again?

As they trudged up the endlessly long steps up to the very top of the Astronomy Tower, Emma moaned, yet again, "I hate Astronomy."

Beside her, Regina was completely unsympathetic.

That probably had something to do with the fact that it was maybe the hundredth time Emma had made the complaint, and she'd stopped acting concerned after the first dozen times. Secretly, she had also gone from thinking the whining was kind of cute to thinking it was just annoying.

(Even more secretly though, a small part of her still thought it was kind of cute.)

Still, as she listened to Emma complain about it for the thousandth time, she only rolled her eyes, saying sarcastically, " _Really?_ I had _no_ idea."

Emma pouted. "Now you're just being mean." The expression on her face was one of hurt, but the smile tugging at the edges of her lips showed she was clearly just teasing.

Grinning, Regina teased a little herself, "It's called ' _tough love'_ , you know." Shaking her head, she went on, more seriously, "But Emma, Astronomy is really not that bad." Looking disapprovingly at her friend, she scolded, "If you ever actually stayed _awake_ for our classes, you might actually realize that."

Emma pouted again, but couldn't really deny it. Much like in History of Magic, Emma had a hard time staying awake in Astronomy, though it was mostly because it was held annoyingly late at night and not just because it was incredibly boring, though it was kind of that too. While she liked looking at the pretty stars, she did not like having to learn all the ridiculous names and drawing the complicated charts. Doing it all while battling her sleepiness did not make for a good combination.

Still, she defended herself, "Maybe if they didn't keep holding it at _midnight_ , I would."

"You can't see the stars properly otherwise," Regina pointed out reasonably, using the tone Emma had come to associate with her best friend probably being right about something. _Again_.

Emma was nothing if not stubborn though. For once, she thought she had a point too. "We're in a magical school! There are fake stars over the Great Hall's ceiling."

Regina shrugged. "It's still not as good as the real thing."

That was just a silly excuse, Emma thought, and a very bad reason to keep making them stay up so late once a week. Ugh. She supposed that they were at least not cruel enough to make them do it more than once a week, like they did for most of their other classes. But it was a very small favor, all in all, and Emma did not think it was fair at all.

As they all sat in a loose semi-circle on the stone floors, having finally made their way to the top floors some time ago, Emma thought about actually saying so. But then, it wouldn't make any difference at all, she was sure, and their professor probably wouldn't even realize what she meant.

Because on top of all the other things that made Astronomy annoying, there was also the fact that their teacher was Professor Jefferson, who was a complete weirdo. Not only was he dressed strangely, even for a wizard, but Emma was pretty sure half the stories he discussed were just things he made up. The fact that Regina had not immediately denied the accusation when she said it definitely said so. The students definitely all called him " _mad_ " behind his back for a reason. At least, he tended to make the lectures kind of interesting, even if it wasn't quite interesting enough to make sure she wouldn't fall asleep halfway through.

Speaking of. At some point during Emma's train of thoughts, it seemed that the lesson had begun. Sneaking a peek at Regina's notes beside her, it looked like they were discussing… Orion's belt today. Why there were any 'belts' at all in the sky, Emma had no clue and no real wish to find out. Frankly, her lids were already starting to droop down, and they weren't even halfway done through the lecture.

Just as her eyes slid shut, however, there was a sharp poke to her ribs that had her giving a soft startled cry. Her eyes flung open, quickly shifting into a glare as she turned towards her best friend.

"That _hurt_!" Emma whispered, a little too loudly, in complaint.

" _Shh!_ " Regina hushed her immediately, glancing towards Professor Jefferson, who had not noticed them at all, too engrossed in telling his story. Seeing that they were safe from reprimand, she told Emma primly, "It's _supposed_ to hurt, because you're supposed to stay awake and listen in class."

Emma frowned. "You don't need to hurt me to wake me!"

"You sleep like the dead," Regina shot back. "It's either an elbow to the ribs or a bucket of water, and one is a lot more obvious than the other."

Even though she knew her best friend had a point, she pouted anyway. Really, she just wanted to sleep again. Already, she could feel her eyes wanting to droop again. Huffing, she muttered, "I _really_ hate Astronomy."

This time, Regina did not bother replying, having returned her attention back to the lecture. Now that she was-kind of-awake again, she tried to do the same. Professor Jefferson was in the middle of a crazy sounding story that made Emma wonder if she was actually asleep and dreaming. Mad, she thought with a shake of her head, and her attention wandered again.

It was nice to see that she wasn't the only one. Regina was one of the few people really paying attention. Most, like her, were in various stages of sleepiness or some other distraction. She saw one student repeatedly slap himself in an attempt to keep himself awake.

As Emma could feel sleep pulling her in once again, she wondered if she ought to do the same. That sounded painful though, and Regina would think she went mad as their professor. Instead, she once more tried to copy the other girl in a hapless attempt to keep awake. Unfortunately, it was pretty much a lost cause. A few moments later, she found herself with her eyes closed once again, leaning slightly against her best friend's shoulder.

This time, Regina didn't bother to wake her up. Looking down at the peaceful expression of slumber on the blonde's face, she let out a soft sigh of exasperation that couldn't hide the fondness. Emma wasn't too heavy, really, and she was a nice warm weight against her side that helped ward off the chilly autumn night. So, with a mental note to share her notes with the other girl next time, she let her attention drift back to the lesson, a small smile on her face.


	4. Brawl in the Hall

It was bound to happen eventually. Though the worst of the rumors and stares had died down fairly quickly after the first week, when other gossip started to take people's interest, Regina Mills remained quite a target. Being a first year made her an easy one too.

Regina and Emma were walking back to the Hufflepuff common room when they ran into some older kids. Quite literally. It had been Emma who had stumbled into an older girl first, and accidentally dragged Regina into it thanks to their interlocked hands.

But it was Regina who drew most of their anger when they finally recovered from the unexpected fall.

" _You!_ " The girl they'd knocked into sneered, looking at Regina like she was something at the bottom of her shoe. "You're the Mills who got Sorted into the _loser_ house."

Regina shrank back, as though she'd been slapped.

One of the others, a tall boy with short, wild hair, shook his head with something like pity. "Poor girl, would've been better to be a blood traitor than _that_."

Emma frowned. What on earth was a _blood traitor_? A bad thing, she supposed, judging by the expressions on the older kids faces.

The last of the group, a dark-skinned girl with long curly hair, raised a brow at that. "Of course, _you_ would say that. Your brother's a Gryffindor."

"Well, Liam's always been an _idiot_." He shrugged, not bothering to defend said brother further. "Still better than a _duffer_ , aye?"

In response, she only rolled her eyes, ignoring the boy and instead calling out to the other girl, "Cruella, we're going to be late for class." Of course, she made no attempt to actually move herself, and sounded like she would be just as happy to miss the class entirely.

"And whose fault is that?" Cruella asked sharply, her eyes shifting from her friend to go back to Regina. "We should teach the little puppy firsties a lesson in _manners_."

By now, she has stood up and regained her bearings, enough that she pulling out her wand and raising it threateningly in the air. Emma tensed, warily eying the wooden stick she'd seen do so many incredible, impossible things in her months here at Hogwarts. Cruella was only a few years older, a fourth year at most, Emma guessed. What kinds of spells could she possibly know? Certainly nothing too bad, right? At least, that was what she assumed.

The way Regina was shaking like a leaf beside, looking like she was on the verge of tears, made the Hufflepuff begin to doubt herself. Frowning at her best friend, any fear she felt was quickly being swept up in a wave of protective anger.

Emma had never had much. Being an orphan meant you knew how to make do with the bare minimum of essentials. For the longest time, that had applied to the people in Emma's life too. She had learned not to get too attached to foster parents and siblings and even friends, because none of them ever lasted long.

But now, she had Hogwarts and magic and seven years of Heaven compared to her old Hell. Now, she had _Regina_ , and she wasn't going to let some stupid girl with a stupid name hurt her _best friend_.

" _Leave her alone!_ " Emma shouted fiercely, stepping in front of the other girl protectively. In lieu of her wand, she had her fists raised, forgetting in the moment that she was a witch herself.

Cruella only scoffed. "Who are _you_?"

"Don't recognize her." The boy noted, peering closer at Emma, and making her send a glare his way as well. He was quite unaffected though, only smirking at her as he added, "She looks a bit like she could be a Midas cousin though. What do you think, Ursula?" He nudged the curly-haired girl.

Ursula shot him a disbelieving look. "Just because she's White and blonde? You're an _idiot_ , Jones."

"Clearly, a _mudblood_ , then." Cruella concluded succinctly, throwing a disgusted look Emma's way that made her blood boil. Who was she to act so high and mighty? The older girl rolled her eyes, saying cuttingly, "Why am I not surprised the _duffer den_ is full of _trash_?"

That was it. Gritting her teeth furiously, Emma snapped, hurtling towards Cruella with surprisingly speed, sending the older girl to the ground much like she had the first time. Only this time, it was on purpose. Startled by Emma's actions, the Slytherin's grip on her wand had faltered, and it was now somewhere on the ground, out of reach.

"You absolute _beast!_ " Cruella exclaimed, fruitlessly trying to shove Emma off her. But the Hufflepuff was determinedly pinning her in place, years of practice from wrestling with older kids in foster homes now working to her advantage.

Panting slightly from the effort to hold her, Emma demanded, "Not until you _apologize_ , you jerk!"

Standing several feet away, Regina had stopped shaking in fear, and was now looking at her fellow Hufflepuff in stunned awe.

" _Cru!_ " Ursula cried out in shock and worry, her apathetic facade gone at the sight of her friend being pummeled by a first year.

Though momentarily stunned by what happen, Killian sprang into action at Ursula's cry, and he leapt towards the two girls struggling on the ground, trying to separate them. With Emma's limbs firmly connected to the other girl, that was easier said than done. But after some struggle, he managed to pull one arm off. It wasn't quite a victory though, because Emma started flailing around wildly, nearly hitting him several times. "Hey, not in the _face!_ "

For a group of witches, and one wizard, there was very little magic being thrown around in the ensuing fight. Cruella's wand was lost in the tackle, and Emma had not bothered to begin with. Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Killian had not thought of it either. Still some distance away, Ursula had her wand raised, but could not cast anything for fear of hitting one of her friends instead.

Then, almost like a finite incantatem had been casted, a sharp voice cut through all the chaos and caused everyone involved to freeze. " _What in Merlin's bloody name is going on here?_ "

Surprisingly, it was Regina who reacted first. Turning towards the unexpected saviour, she cried out in surprise, " _Zelena!_ "

Zelena was a red-haired girl with a strict, imposing bearing. She was a fifth year Slytherin and a prefect, as the shiny badge pinned to her robes proclaimed. She was also Regina's older sister. Sending her sister a frown, she once again repeated, " _What_ is going on here?"

"This crazy thing attacked me, like a wild animal!"

"She was going to hurt Regina!"

The two spoke nearly simultaneously, before glaring at each other. They had disentangled at Zelena's appearance. Emma was sporting quite a few scrapes, but the older girl looked more noticeably worse for wear. Between them, Killian had a nasty looking bruise on his cheek he was experimentally poking at with a grimace.

" _Enough_." Zelena cut through the rising voices firmly. "You are all getting a detention for fighting, and getting five house points docked each."

More protests erupted at this, but she quickly stopped them with a hard glare. Turning to the three older students, she scolded harshly, "Are you fourth years, or a bunch of children in the schoolyard? _Brawling_ in the hallways? We are _Slytherins_ , not _Gryffindors_." She huffed in exasperation. "Fighting first years- _honestly_ , have some _pride_ as snakes!"

The trio ducked their heads, flushing in shame and embarrassment, thoroughly scolded. Emma could not resist a grin at the sight. A detention was totally worth it for this, she thought.

But that was not the end of Zelena's tirade. Done with the Slytherins, she moved onto the two Hufflepuffs in the midst. Settling her eyes on her sister, she noted coldly. "You better hope _Mother_ does not hear of this." Frowning harder, she added, with a shake of her head, "You should know better, sister."

Regina was trembling again, unable to look the older girl in the eye as she flushed a bright red. There was a wet shine to her eyes as she quietly mumbled, "I apologize, sister."

Emma frowned at the sight. Weren't sisters supposed to be nice to each other? Though, considering what little she knew about her best friend's family, she supposed she shouldn't have been surprised. Still, seeing it in action made Emma hurt and angry on her friend's behalf. Sending a glare the redhead's way, she objected, " _Hey_ , it's not her fault!"

The prefect turned her attention towards Emma. She was less than impressed with what she saw. Eying the first year, she refuted calmly, "No, it's _yours_."

Not expecting such a response, Emma could not even stutter out a defense.

"Fighting, especially in a violent, _Muggle_ , way like this is not looked on kindly, _Emma Swan_." Zelena continued, uncaring about the younger girl's response. "You will be forgiven for now, as a first year. But you should watch yourself, Swan." Briefly, her eyes flicked towards her sister. "You might bring other people down with you, if you don't."

Without waiting for a reply, Zelena moved on, addressing the entire group firmly, "Those who need it, go to the Hospital Wing. Those who don't, get to _class_."

Grumbling lightly, the trio of Slytherins followed her commands. Killian and Cruella heading for the Hospital Wing, while Ursula made for class, if slowly and reluctantly. She kept looking at her two friends and Zelena, clearly planning to follow as soon as the prefect was gone.

Emma and Regina were left behind, but not for long, as Regina started tugging at her friend's hand. "We should go to the Hospital Wing too." The brunette explained quietly, looking worriedly at the scrapes. "You're _hurt_."

"But what about-?" Emma started to ask, before she turned around and realized that Zelena had already walking away. As soon as she'd given the last order, she'd left, not bothering to say another word or spare a glance at her sister.

"Just forget about what Zelena said." Regina told her, eyes determinedly not looking at the direction her sister had gone in. "She's _wrong_."

Emma wasn't so sure about that. But the other girl clearly did not want to talk about it anymore, so she only shrugged, allowing herself to get dragged off to the Hospital Wing again, to ease her friend's mind. She knew they were minor injuries that would heal easily, but Regina always worried too much. After meeting her sister though, Emma was starting to understand why.

There was still a faint frown on her friend's lips, and Emma wished it would go away. If only she knew how. Opening her mouth, she was prepared to try anyway, when Regina spoke up. "Thank you, Emma."

The words were delivered with a soft, barely there, but nonetheless sincere smile.

Emma broke into a grin. "No problem."


	5. First Detention

Detention turned out to be both more and less than either were expecting. It was more by Regina and less by Emma. The two of them were in the hallway by the trophy case, where all the achievements of students past were proudly displayed.

...In an increasingly cobwebbed and dirty case and corridor. It seemed it had been some time since the last cleanup, or some incident or another had occurred, judging by some of the more off-color marks on the floor and glass. With a school like Hogwarts, one never knew.

"The entire case and hallway, _by hand_!" Regina repeated incredulously, staring down at the Muggle cleaning supplies they'd been summarily handed after the announcement.

The caretaker of the castle, who'd been their detention supervisor, had been quick to leave as soon as they'd explained it. Clearly, they were enjoying the free labor. The ones stuck as said labor, not so much.

Well, one didn't mind too much. Next to her incredulous friend, Emma only shrugged, "I thought it'd be worse, to be honest."

Regina frowned, looking at the other girl with wide eyes, her imagination sparking and making herself flinch as she asked. "Like what?"

"I dunno. Something magical, I guess?" Emma shrugged, not quite sure what else to say, before adding, "This is pretty normal punishment for a magical school."

Pausing at that, the brunette looked thoughtful for a moment, before saying, "I think that might be the point. For a lot of us, _this_ isn't normal." Once again, she sent a somewhat perplexed glance towards the various supplies they'd been given.

It was her first seeing them, and she could only guess at what they all did. Being reasonably intelligent, she wanted to assume she was guessing correctly, but who knew? Muggles could be quite strange. Merlin, muggleborns could be pretty weird too, she thought, recalling some of the weirder stories Emma had brought up before.

"Do magical people not clean or something? Because that would explain this hallway."

The words broke through her reverie, and Regina looked up to see Emma had already started working on their task with a confidence that showed obvious experience with the task.

Momentarily distracted by the sight, she nearly forgot about the question. Once she remembered though, she quickly replied, "What? _No_ -of course we do!"

She was a little offended by the insinuation, as if anything, Emma was far messier of the two of them, despite the sudden expertise she seemed to be displaying now. Her side of the dorm always seemed to be in a permanent state of disarray.

Shaking her head at the various supplies, Regina explained, "We just, mostly do it by magic. And, well, we have house elves too. Though usually, only the older families have those." She didn't bother to add that her family had one, of course. Milsy had been with them for generations, having been named after them, even. Though there were some who claimed it had actually been the other way around.

"Oh. Guess I should've expected that. Must be super easy to clean stuff then, when you can just wave your hand and everything's all neat." Emma mimicked the action with a soapy sponge in hand, flinging a few droplets in Regina's direction.

Cringing back from the dirty water, she threw her friend a small frown, before shaking her head, sighing ruefully, "That's why this is a punishment."

Finally having some direction as to what to do, she bent down and copied the blonde's actions, if a little more awkwardly. Though she was used to keeping her room (both at home and at Hogwarts) neat and orderly by hand, since she had only just started out using magic this year, this was a different level. Plus, cleaning spells were some of the most basic and easy to learn. A simple charm to soak up spills and polish wood or stone had been one of the first she'd learned.

As she struggled with following Emma's technique, the blonde piped up with another question. "Oh, right. You said something about… elves? I'm guessing you don't mean, like those Lord of the Rings types."

Bewildered by the reference, Regina could only blink confusedly, "Lord of the… Rings?" What a strange turn of phrase.

"It's a movie-uh, a Muggle thing," Emma corrected quickly, when she saw her explanation didn't seem to make things any clearer.

"I assumed," the brunette spoke, a small smile on her face. There was a small pause, before she added hesitantly, "You should… show me some time." As much as Emma was unaware of the magical world, she was just as ignorant to the Muggle one. Though she knew her mother would likely skin her alive if she ever found out, Regina wanted to know more. As strange as they could be, they could also be so endlessly fascinating.

Unfortunately, Emma frowned. "I'd love to, but I don't know how? Stuff like that doesn't work here, I think. I overheard some older kids complaining about their phones and stuff." Squinting her eyes a little in remembrance, she added, "Something about the magic in Hogwarts not mixing well with Muggle technology?"

Though she probably should've expected that, Regina could not help but be a little disappointed. "Oh," she breathed out, deflating slightly.

At the sight of her friend looking so down, Emma could not help but feel a need to cheer her up. So, quickly, she suggested, "But maybe we can find a way!"

The pureblood witch looked up to see her friend looking earnestly at her. Blushing just a little at having such an expression directed at her, she coughed lightly, nodding, "Right." Then, shifting subjects, she went on to answer Emma's initial question.

"Anyway, about house elves… well, there's basically these small magical beings with, er, bat-like ears and these big eyes." Regina struggled to explain it properly, wishing she was better with drawing, or describing, for that matter. "They typically work for old magical families and do whatever is required of them, including cleaning the house and such." Or raising the children. Their house elf, Milsy, had been more mother to her than her actual mother in many cases.

The blonde could only look wide-eyed at such an explanation, shaking her head a little as she noted "Sounds like some of my old foster parents would've definitely wanted one of them." Looking down at the small patch of the floor they were still working on, and the much longer hallway they still had to clean, she sighed, "Sure wish your house elf was here now."

Regina nodded in agreement. "If Milsy were here, she could clean this all with a snap of her hands, and then probably make us cookies too." A soft wistful sigh escaped her lips, as she explained. "She makes the _best_ macadamia nut cookies."

Grinning a little at the dreamy expression on her friend's face, she said lightly, "I'll take your word for it."

"Oh, I could ask Daddy in the next letter, to send some for us." Regina realized, nearly clapping her hands in excitement. She just managed to stop herself, as the soapy sponge she held in one hand would've made something of a mess.

As the brunette turned to ask if she had a favorite flavor of cookie, she was faced with a strange expression on her friend's face. "Emma?" She asked worriedly. Had she said something wrong?

The muggleborn witch shook her head, the strange expression leaking out, leaving something like embarrassment in its wake. "Sorry. Uh, it's just, nice of you to offer." It was the first time someone had offered, Emma didn't say.

Regina still looked a little worried, but seemed mostly appeased by the words. "Okay… do you have a favorite flavor of cookie? Milsy makes really good oatmeal cookies too, and she made chocolate chip once, it was pretty good."

As the brunette rambled on, Emma only shrugged, grinning, "How 'bout all of them? Who says no to a cookie, right?"

"True." Regina nodded, showing a grin of her own.

For a moment, the two could only look at each other, with a silly grin on their faces, before they both doubled over with laughter. After a few moments of that, with Regina clutching her stomach in near pain from all the laughing, they managed to recover.

"We should get back to work," she managed to wheeze out, looking a little mournful to be saying it, but also determined to finish as soon as possible. "I can go write the letter soon as we're done."

Emma nodded. "C'mon. I picked up few tricks that will make this go faster."

With that, she proceeded to explain a strange game an old foster sister had made up to help the younger kids do chores. It was silly, but it really did make the task feel less like a punishment. Or a chore, she supposed. There were also some helpful tips peppered in about the easiest way to hold a mop and the best ratio for soap and water that had Regina nodding like she was in Potions class and scribbling down the ingredients for a Pepper-up potion.

All in all, it was an enlightening, if rather physically tiring, experience. By the time they finished cleaning it all up, Regina didn't have the energy to even pick up a quill, let alone head over to the Owlery to send a letter. Instead, they both simply headed for their beds soon as detention was over and the supervisor had returned to find their work satisfactory, half-leaning on each other as they walked.


End file.
